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2 EL CASO DEL EFECTIVO – EN DEFENSA DE LOS MITOSNico López

3 Los Mitos de Efectivo Mito 1 - El efectivo es caroMito 2 - Si desaparece el efectivo, la delincuencia tambien Mito 3 - La sociedad sin dinero es inminente Mito 4 - El efectivo está disminuyendo Mito 5 - Minoristas prefieren las tarjetas de crédito Mito 6 - El efectivo es sucio Mito 7 - El efectivo es solo utilizado por la generación de más edad

4 Los Mitos de Efectivo (CONT)Mito Bitcoin reemplazará el efectivo Mito Tarjetas de crédito son más seguras que el efectivo Mito 10 - El efectivo es baja tecnología Mito 11 - Sólo los criminales utilizan dinero en efectivo Mito 12 - El efectivo será reemplazado por los pagos móviles

5 Los Mitos de Efectivo (CONT)Mito 13 - Los consumidores no les gusta el dinero en efectivo Mito 14 - El efectivo no tiene beneficios para la sociedad Mito 15 - Bancos comerciales y compañías de tarjetas de pago quieren convencer a la gente que el efectivo es malo, es bueno para la sociedad.

6 Si desaparece el efectivo, la delincuencia tambiénhttps://www.bra.se/bra/bra-in-english/home/crime-and-statistics/swedish-crime-survey.html

7 El efectivo está disminuyendo

8 Minoristas prefieren las tarjetas de créditoTaxis en Londres y Bs As. Más de 8000 minoristas en EEUU llevaron a juicio a Mastercard por fijación de precios Otro ejemplo claro This is a picture I took at a cash register in one of the local restaurants in Dallas—and I admit is a bit extreme… but this idea that Retailers prefer Credit cards is NOT the case in the majority of countries. The US retailers, in fact, have taken a class action suit against Mastercard and Visa for antitrust and price fixing. There are 8000 large retailers who are filing individual lawsuits with the credit card companies. (Walmart for $5 Billion) Retailers actually prefer consumer choices with low cost, secure, quick transactions. Obviously cash meets this need…. Particularly under a certain value.

9 El efectivo es sucio Ecuador, volatilidad de mercado etcThere seems to be articles every second day on Bitcoin touting it as the next great payment instrument, and yes even replacing cash. From the newspaper articles you would believe this is about to happen. Currency Research looked into consumers most valued features of Cash (which is security and anonymity) and how those can be compared to Bitcoin. Bitcoin claimed initially to be both ---highly secure and completely anonymous. But now these have now been proven false with the US federal government cracking down on many companies that have been hacked and their Bitcoins stolen. So, they are not secure after all. I’ve always been confused with this claim of anonymity because you have to use an agent to buy or sell Bitcoins —and that agent requires your personal info. Let’s compare the attributes of cash to bitcoin…. Bitcoin is not easy (to understand, create, or to use) like Cash… It is not quick like cash…. ( a transaction takes between 10 minutes and 1 hour to complete), It is not unique like cash---there are many other digital currencies out there…. (Dogecoin, Feathercoin, Litecoin,, Megacoin, RonPaulCoin to name a few competitors) It is not convenient like cash It is obviously not secure as pointed out above. Therefore it will not replace cash. Central Banks risk losing control of their economies and their relevance if they actively encourage alternate means of payment which do not have the speed, convenience, trust, universal acceptability and even the relative anonymity of cash. That is not to say that Central Banks (or Currency Research) should ignore the technological crypto currency payments world. Any Central Bank or Mint needs to fully understand all implications of any payment method and be able to regulate it for consumer protection. Should something in the future look to replace all the many benefits and consumer confidence in physical cash, the Central Bank needs to be adaptable. But we have not witnessed such a technology yet.

10 Bitcoin reemplazará el efectivoEcuador, volatilidad de mercado etc There seems to be articles every second day on Bitcoin touting it as the next great payment instrument, and yes even replacing cash. From the newspaper articles you would believe this is about to happen. Currency Research looked into consumers most valued features of Cash (which is security and anonymity) and how those can be compared to Bitcoin. Bitcoin claimed initially to be both ---highly secure and completely anonymous. But now these have now been proven false with the US federal government cracking down on many companies that have been hacked and their Bitcoins stolen. So, they are not secure after all. I’ve always been confused with this claim of anonymity because you have to use an agent to buy or sell Bitcoins —and that agent requires your personal info. Let’s compare the attributes of cash to bitcoin…. Bitcoin is not easy (to understand, create, or to use) like Cash… It is not quick like cash…. ( a transaction takes between 10 minutes and 1 hour to complete), It is not unique like cash---there are many other digital currencies out there…. (Dogecoin, Feathercoin, Litecoin,, Megacoin, RonPaulCoin to name a few competitors) It is not convenient like cash It is obviously not secure as pointed out above. Therefore it will not replace cash. Central Banks risk losing control of their economies and their relevance if they actively encourage alternate means of payment which do not have the speed, convenience, trust, universal acceptability and even the relative anonymity of cash. That is not to say that Central Banks (or Currency Research) should ignore the technological crypto currency payments world. Any Central Bank or Mint needs to fully understand all implications of any payment method and be able to regulate it for consumer protection. Should something in the future look to replace all the many benefits and consumer confidence in physical cash, the Central Bank needs to be adaptable. But we have not witnessed such a technology yet.

11 Bitcoin reemplazará el efectivo (CONT)Ecuador, volatilidad de mercado etc There seems to be articles every second day on Bitcoin touting it as the next great payment instrument, and yes even replacing cash. From the newspaper articles you would believe this is about to happen. Currency Research looked into consumers most valued features of Cash (which is security and anonymity) and how those can be compared to Bitcoin. Bitcoin claimed initially to be both ---highly secure and completely anonymous. But now these have now been proven false with the US federal government cracking down on many companies that have been hacked and their Bitcoins stolen. So, they are not secure after all. I’ve always been confused with this claim of anonymity because you have to use an agent to buy or sell Bitcoins —and that agent requires your personal info. Let’s compare the attributes of cash to bitcoin…. Bitcoin is not easy (to understand, create, or to use) like Cash… It is not quick like cash…. ( a transaction takes between 10 minutes and 1 hour to complete), It is not unique like cash---there are many other digital currencies out there…. (Dogecoin, Feathercoin, Litecoin,, Megacoin, RonPaulCoin to name a few competitors) It is not convenient like cash It is obviously not secure as pointed out above. Therefore it will not replace cash. Central Banks risk losing control of their economies and their relevance if they actively encourage alternate means of payment which do not have the speed, convenience, trust, universal acceptability and even the relative anonymity of cash. That is not to say that Central Banks (or Currency Research) should ignore the technological crypto currency payments world. Any Central Bank or Mint needs to fully understand all implications of any payment method and be able to regulate it for consumer protection. Should something in the future look to replace all the many benefits and consumer confidence in physical cash, the Central Bank needs to be adaptable. But we have not witnessed such a technology yet.

12 Tarjetas de crédito son más seguras que el efectivoMastercard and Visa refer to cards as safer than cash in promoting their use. They produce stories of robbery and loss of cash in the transport and handling both from the retailer and the consumer point of view. Who has heard of the recent attacks on the Target stores in the US…? Apparently, there was some kind of malware or code that was inserted on to credit and debit card swiping-machines, cash registers and other point-of-sale (POS) equipment. “These thieves are believed to have got away with complete details for 40 million cards and stolen personal data on about 70 million customers. Mine was one of those cards…and you know how I found out. I received a new card in the mail one day. I called the credit card company and asked why did I receive a new card==what a pain== I had bills autopaid to the old card, now I had to manage all those changes. And they said, oh, your card details were included in the group that was stolen from Target…. Who has been a victim of card fraud—had a charge on your card that wasn’t yours….? Now who has received a counterfeit note? When you compare the credit card fraud to sales ratio …to the counterfeit ratio of currency in Circulation----the fraud to sales ratio is much higher…

13 Tarjetas de crédito son más seguras que el efectivo (CONT)(robo de identidad) Gemalto, una empresa de seguridad de información digital publicó los reultados de su estudio en cuanto a los ataques a ‘datos’ en el No debería asombarr que hubo un 78% incremente del 2013 y que cada día hay casi 3 millones de ataques hacia bases de datos. (acceso financiero) Source: Gemalto

14 Datos robados por sector… Esta claro que el retail no mira la seguridad de la misma forma que debería. Source: Gemalto

15 Mito # 12 el efectivo será reemplazado por los pagos móviles (CONT)El caso M-Pesa y otras tantos mas. Again the newspaper headlines would lead you to believe the mobile revolution is just around the next corner. And while we see some movement here…we wouldn’t go so far as to say there is a revolution coming or it will displace cash. At a recent forum on payments we learned that there are over 200 mobile payment schemes in existence today trying to capitalize on the success of M-Pesa. It was then stated that over 90% have failed. Has everyone heard about M-PESA? M-Pesa is by far the most successful mobile payment scheme in the world with over 15 million users.…and many tech giants are trying to duplicate it. Started in Kenya by the mobile phone operator Safaricom. And is a mobile money transfer system…where individuals who have a mobile phone can send and transfer money through SMS messages They take their phones to any of the pay agents -- pay cash to have credited to their mobile phone account for futher transfer or payment of bills….or if they’ve received a payment via M-Pesa, they show their sms message and get their cash. But when looking closer at M Pesa it is surprising that since the introduction in Kenya-- cash usage has actually gone up. In 2013, 99% of all retail transactions in Kenya were still conducted in cash. So what has happened in Kenya is not that mobile money has replaced cash – because the transactions weren’t there in the first place. Instead it has served to allow the means, and hence generate the demand, for cash. Everything around the M-Pesa story involves very unique situations—from the inherent cash usage in the country, to the prevalence of mobile phones, to the mobile network and payment infrastructure in the country. M-Pesa themselves are finding it very hard to duplicate in other countries.    Mobile phones in the developed world are often tied to payment cards for final payment and as such are often just another form of a debit or credit card transaction. The barriers for success on mobile payments in the developed world include the fact that there are vast numbers of “players” in the competition (mobile phone networks, manufacturers, credit card companies, large internet companies, banks, government regulations) and they are finding it impossible for these groups to come together on some uniform plan for payments….but this is what has to happen. And you go back to the attributes of cash: Universality- not all merchants are going to buy the POS terminals to process mobile payments, It’s the chicken or egg conundrum… merchants won’t buy the POS systems until a vast majority of consumers start using their phone…and the consumer isn’t going to start using their phone until there is a real value proposition for them to make a change AND until the merchants start accepting mobile payments. Anonymity – have you heard about the so called “perks” that you will get with some of these “mobile payment technologies”—they will know everything about you—what you last bought, when, what size…and then let you know everytime there is a sale on a similar item I personally think that cash users will remain cash users. They have other options now—like the credit card or prepaid card. They like cash and new technology provided by phone for payments is not going to change these habits for most individuals. And to this point….you can look at Japan, which is both one of the most advanced users of mobile phone payments while at the same time having one of the highest rate of cash transactions.  Until we see some kind of payment alternative that has the attributes of Cash…we won’t see the displacement that continues to be talked about…

16 Mito # 12 el efectivo será reemplazado por los pagos con celularesEl caso M-Pesa y otras tantos mas. Again the newspaper headlines would lead you to believe the mobile revolution is just around the next corner. And while we see some movement here…we wouldn’t go so far as to say there is a revolution coming or it will displace cash. At a recent forum on payments we learned that there are over 200 mobile payment schemes in existence today trying to capitalize on the success of M-Pesa. It was then stated that over 90% have failed. Has everyone heard about M-PESA? M-Pesa is by far the most successful mobile payment scheme in the world with over 15 million users.…and many tech giants are trying to duplicate it. Started in Kenya by the mobile phone operator Safaricom. And is a mobile money transfer system…where individuals who have a mobile phone can send and transfer money through SMS messages They take their phones to any of the pay agents -- pay cash to have credited to their mobile phone account for futher transfer or payment of bills….or if they’ve received a payment via M-Pesa, they show their sms message and get their cash. But when looking closer at M Pesa it is surprising that since the introduction in Kenya-- cash usage has actually gone up. In 2013, 99% of all retail transactions in Kenya were still conducted in cash. So what has happened in Kenya is not that mobile money has replaced cash – because the transactions weren’t there in the first place. Instead it has served to allow the means, and hence generate the demand, for cash. Everything around the M-Pesa story involves very unique situations—from the inherent cash usage in the country, to the prevalence of mobile phones, to the mobile network and payment infrastructure in the country. M-Pesa themselves are finding it very hard to duplicate in other countries.    Mobile phones in the developed world are often tied to payment cards for final payment and as such are often just another form of a debit or credit card transaction. The barriers for success on mobile payments in the developed world include the fact that there are vast numbers of “players” in the competition (mobile phone networks, manufacturers, credit card companies, large internet companies, banks, government regulations) and they are finding it impossible for these groups to come together on some uniform plan for payments….but this is what has to happen. And you go back to the attributes of cash: Universality- not all merchants are going to buy the POS terminals to process mobile payments, It’s the chicken or egg conundrum… merchants won’t buy the POS systems until a vast majority of consumers start using their phone…and the consumer isn’t going to start using their phone until there is a real value proposition for them to make a change AND until the merchants start accepting mobile payments. Anonymity – have you heard about the so called “perks” that you will get with some of these “mobile payment technologies”—they will know everything about you—what you last bought, when, what size…and then let you know everytime there is a sale on a similar item I personally think that cash users will remain cash users. They have other options now—like the credit card or prepaid card. They like cash and new technology provided by phone for payments is not going to change these habits for most individuals. And to this point….you can look at Japan, which is both one of the most advanced users of mobile phone payments while at the same time having one of the highest rate of cash transactions.  Until we see some kind of payment alternative that has the attributes of Cash…we won’t see the displacement that continues to be talked about…

17 Conclusiones Puede existir un sistema de pago, un día en el futuro que pueda sustituir efectivo ... Pero con toda seguridad tiene que ser ... Tan fácil de usar como Tan flexible como Tan seguro como Tan confidencial como Tan rápido como Tan universalmente aceptado como Tan fiable como

18 Conclusiones Tan de alta tecnología como Tan incuestionable comoTan identificables como Tan conciliables como Tan inmediata como Tan irreversible como Y lo más importante, tan confiable como       …. EL EFECTIVO

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